“Mr. Painter”
1644
Persecuted for Truth
We only know him as Mr. Painter. We do not even know his first name! His legacy is “a poor man, was suddenly turned Anabaptist, and having a child born, would not suffer his wife to carry it to be baptized.”
Mr. Painter lived in Hingham near Boston, and was taken before the magistrates in 1644 because he refused to allow the state Church to sprinkle his child. Because there is no Bible or logical proof for such a religious belief as baptizing infants, the only thing the authorities could do was pass and enforce an unjust law. They had no arguments but force. Gov. Winthrop said “He was whipped for denying the Lord’s Ordinance.” The sad truth is the Lord NEVER had such an ordinance.
You do not have to be a preacher to stand for Christ, as many of the Baptists of the past have proven. The proof of Biblical conviction is seen in the living of God’s people. The unreasonable demands of a secular religion, such as practiced in infant baptism, have no scriptural warrant. Throughout history Baptists have stood on the scriptures in spite of the unreasonable demands of the religions and governments of men.
We may not know Mr. Painter’s first name, and history may ignore him, but God knows his name. We today should be thankful for the thousands of Mr. Painter’s who chose to stand for truth at great personal expense. They bought our liberty and paved the way for us today. Can we do anything less than stand ourselves?
It is sad that our country started with such severe persecution of Christians. This fact is denied in history books and ignored in present life, but we should be reminded of 2Tim. 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
(These Baptist Cameos written by Douglas Hammett — Permission granted to churches to reprint as handouts or bulletin inserts.)
